Starting Notes:
Welcome back! This chapter took so long because… well, there was a lot of it. In the end, for pacing's sake, I split it into two, which is unfortunate because… hmm, I'll explain at the end! :3 Enjoy the read!
Chapter 99: The Boiling Vat
Twelve years ago:
Dad was working late again. Eri peered in through the window, tiptoeing, spotting him hunched over the desk.
… oh well.
She tiptoed back to the room. Edo was sitting on the bed, and he looked up excitedly as she came in, only to pout when he realised that it was just her. "Is dad busy?"
"He's busy," Eri said, pulling her fringe behind her ear—under the moonlight, it took on a bright sheen.
"He never has time to read us bedtime stories anymore."
"Dad's very important. He needs to rest too." Eri picked up the book. "Let's go to sleep. I'll read to you, okay?"
Edo pouted for a moment longer, and then he sat back on the bed. Eri flipped through the pages until she found where she'd stopped the day before. She traced the words with her fingertips.
"You're such a smart child, Eri. You have to take care of your brother too, okay?"
"Can you do the funny voice?" Edo said. Eri blinked, looking over at him—before she nodded. She cleared her throat, and then, she began to read out the lines in a deeper voice.
"So, last time, we stopped when the hero discovered the villain's hideout, right? So, getting the help of the vigilante, Shadow Angel, Lieutenant Tenacious rushed to the hideout…"
When Edo had fallen asleep, Eri closed the book and headed back to her dad's office. He was still working. She quickly went down the stairs, and when she slowly pushed the door open, he didn't even notice the creaking. Eri walked up to him and put a cup of hot chocolate on the table.
Her dad looked up, smiling. "Thanks, little gemstone. You're the best."
Eri nodded. "Sleep soon, dad," she said quietly.
"You too. Is Edo asleep already?"
"Yes."
"Thought so. You're such a responsible older sister."
Eri averted her gaze. It wouldn't do to frown at praise like that—no matter how much she wanted to. She tiptoed, looking at his desk. "… cards? Is Mr. Kaiba making you work on more things?" Dad was always more willing to talk about work with her, instead of Edo—with him, it was always jokes and games.
"Oh, this is for Edo," her dad said. "I was designing a deck for him—based on that series of superhero stories that you two like, you know?"
I don't like it. He does.
"Obviously, the names have to be a bit different, but… yeah! Oh, come to think of it, I haven't thought of what to make for you yet. Do you want those heroes too?"
"No!"
Eri briefly covered her mouth. That was a bit loud… her father didn't seem to notice though.
"Oh? What do you want then?"
What she wanted…
She wasn't really sure.
"Something different," she blurted out. "A deck that's not like Edo's."
"Really? So you don't want to match with your brother?"
I don't know anything I want less.
Still, she knew that she couldn't get mad or act out—it wouldn't be mature of her. She had to talk more… smartly. Uh, cleverly?
"I want to play a different deck." Eri thought quickly. What was the opposite of a hero? "… I want to play the villain."
"You do?"
"Mm." She just had to keep going, right? "Big, scary monsters. That's what I want."
"A little strange, but if that's what you like, then sure! Nothing more demure?"
I hate demure.
"No," Eri said. "Nothing more demure."
In the present:
The truth was, Eri Phoenix did not want to leave Heartland. She did not want to go back to Academia, and she most certainly did not want to go back to Domino City. She would be perfectly happy if this situation went on forever, if things continued to be balanced like this, and if she never found what she had been sent here to find.
… after all, coming to Heartland had been the first time that she had truly been allowed to be herself, to be a person with her own goals, independent of being the responsible older sister. To have a mission that was just for her, and not for Edo Phoenix…
The truth is, I loved my father and hated him. But no matter how much I tried to pretend that I wasn't, it was true. Everyone—my father, my uncles and aunts, my mother's ghost—wanted me to disappear into him, to become nothing more than his shield and shadow.
And the worst part is that I love my brother. So I can't quite run away from all that either.
I just have to keep on being the mature older sister who protects him—
Pebbles rained down over the rusty grate in front of her. Eri blinked, drawing her foot back—she'd slammed her foot into the ground without thinking.
… she wouldn't disappear. No matter what, she was not going to disappear, not going to do what they wanted…
"You must be Eri Phoenix. I've heard much about you. Why don't you work for me?"
"The one that I want to work for me is you. Why would I ever choose your brother when you have far more potential than he does?"
"Do this one thing for me, and I will never let anyone judge you as lesser again."
Of course…
Eri knew what her mission was. She knew what she was here to find.
… she knew what she had to do. A part of her, however, was still holding back somewhat.
If only she didn't care for Edo Phoenix… then this would be so much simpler.
"... what are you doing here?"
… how far had she wandered already?
Eri raised her head. "... mm." She stood up, making sure that the expression on her face was right. Another mask, over and over. "I'm here to speak to you. Casually, of course."
Kaito Tenjo eyed her—not as livid as anyone would expect him to be, when he was looking at an Academia commander. Eri knew why though. "... is this about her? Then speak up," he said, folding his arms. "Before I change my mind."
It had taken a while, but Edo had finally begun reading through all of the reports associated with the Lancers' arrival in Heartland. There were quite a few interesting things—people making larger and larger splashes in Heartland's battlefield, which had been a still lake before they'd come. A stalemate that had been in place for months, showing signs of fragility.
Still…
It seemed that they were still allowing the Resistance to take the lead, which was… an interesting choice on their part. The only real incidents were isolated ones, ones that seemed motivated by individual purposes.
(Like the incident with Yuji Fujita, Chiaki Katsuya and Kyorin Rinsoka—and damn it, he was doing his best not to think about that…)
His fingers drifted over the last report, and he stopped.
Then, he sprang to his feet.
Was anyone going to tell him that one of the Lancers was Yusho Sakaki's fucking son, or was he supposed to find that out himself just from reading paperwork? That was just absolutely ridiculous. To think that this man—
He'd have to find out more about Yuya Sakaki—
"Calm yourself."
His breathing was uneven.
… he was too involved in that. Too emotional. But he couldn't help it.
He would have to look into it himself. Or perhaps, ask her to look into it…
Either way, for his own pride, nothing related to Yusho Sakaki could be allowed to stay here. He pushed the papers to the corner of the table, feeling the familiar ache of the burns on his arms.
… he'd have to ask that newcomer, Mackfield, about this. And about Yusho Sakaki, in general.
… anything to get rid of this seething feeling.
"You're looking for Mariko and Tsubaki?" Kaede glanced up. "They're off doing something else, I'm afraid."
Reiji calmly crossed his arms. "Are they? I would appreciate being made aware of such things—I had something that I needed to discuss with them today." No, he did not, but still, it was intriguing that the two higher-ups in command were missing today.
"Then I'll be sure to send them your way. Why don't you go talk to Chris about it? I've heard that you two get along pretty well."
… why was he trying to deflect from Reiji's question?
"... I suppose I will," Reiji said. He turned his head.
… good thing that he'd already asked Sora to follow them this morning. He would probably hear back from him later. (He'd wanted to ask Kaname too, but the girl had flatly refused without saying anything—it was clear that she had done so because she didn't want to leave Nue's side, considering how protective she clearly was over the dark-haired girl.)
At this point, it was high time they stopped asking questions and started acting, whether their supposed allies wanted to or not.
Still…
Reira hadn't been around when he'd woken up that morning. Still, knowing her, she wouldn't just wander off somewhere without feeling like she would be safe, so there were only so many places she'd have gone, and only so many people that she'd have gone with. In the end, as he'd expected, he found her in the food preparation area with Mion and Gongenzaka.
The Resistance had been rationing out their food from the start, even though they were technically running on an excess—that was what Reiji had been told, anyway. Nue had mentioned back in Synchro that it was a decision that they'd made early on in the invasion, back when they were still regrouping. Without any way to gain food except through scavenging from destroyed buildings, while they had a lot of canned food, it was all finite—they had no way of getting more. When Reiji had checked the current situation with Chris and Hisako, the man had offhandedly mentioned about an attempt at a farm that Hisako had come up with—but the entire thing had been razed to the ground after Academia had destroyed the bases again, so they were back to square one. So that was why the Resistance had exactly two mealtimes per day, and in fact, most people only ate one meal each day—not because they were told to, but because they felt a responsibility to help to save the supplies.
Still, all food needed to be properly prepared—and well, the Lancers had all begun to assimilate into their surroundings to help and learn from the Resistance. Some had taken to training, like Sawatari and, to Reiji's surprise, Yuji. Others were still incapacitated, such as Nue—not that anyone could blame her for that. And then, there were those who had thrown themselves less into fights and more into… what would usually be referred to as humanitarian aid.
One of those was Gongenzaka, surprising no one—he'd immediately begun to help to do certain things that… frailer people might not be able to do, such as transporting supplies across longer distances, through the long passages in these underground ruins. Obviously, he also knew how to cook.
"Dueling is something that anyone can do, and I will get stronger," Gongenzaka had said when Reiji had asked him about it. "It is of the utmost importance that we avenge Tsukikage… but the man, Gongenzaka, would never forgive himself if he ignored other things to only focus on revenge."
Gongenzaka and Mion both seemed to be done cooking, for the most part. Reiji watched as Mion leaned back on the crates nearby—the necklace that he'd bought for her was resting on the lowest part of her neck—as she breathed in and out, the pendant rose up and down with the same rhythm. There was something about the fact that she was actually wearing it which… hmm. Reiji did not feel like putting his current thoughts into words.
"It's different in a situation like this," Mion was explaining. "Money doesn't mean anything to them anymore, and all their supplies are shared—but this isn't what I'd consider a 'cheap meal' back home."
"I'm afraid that we grew most of our vegetables back home," Gongenzaka said, though he seemed intrigued. "We bought rice, of course, and on weekends or days of celebration, we would buy a cut of beef from the market."
"God. Beef." Mion closed her eyes, pinching her nose. She lowered her hand a moment later. "I guess that's good for celebrations, yeah. No, uh, what I'd buy was those… you know those bundles of greens that they sold at the market for dirt cheap? Those are the kind that I'm used to—perishables. Those were cheaper back in Maiami City, and as long as you portioned them out properly before they went bad, they were cheaper than…" She waved a hand at the supplies. "Beans. Tuna. All this… stuff."
Reira reached up, tugging at Mion's hand. Mion glanced back at her.
"Yeah?"
"Can you… teach me to cook when we get home?" Reira asked. Mion's eyes did that thing where they softened slightly, and she nodded.
"I'll teach both you and Reiji how to cook," she proposed. "It's a good skill to have, anyway—you save a lot of money if you can cook."
And it certainly helped that Mion was pretty good at it—though, considering how Reiji felt for her, he'd probably be fine even with far more mediocre cooking. There was something warm about eating food that was prepared by someone that you had a personal connection to.
Still, that was enough—he cleared his throat and stepped into the kitchen.
"Morning, Reiji," Mion said, even though it was one in the afternoon—when the sky was grey anyway and everyone sort of just did things when they felt like it, time started to feel like more of a suggestion.
"Good morning." Reiji strode across the room. He briefly ruffled Reira's hair—she stuck to his side like glue now. "Good work."
Gongenzaka looked at him, seeming surprised. Before he could say anything else though—
"Reiji Akaba."
He turned his head. Serena was standing there. There was an edge to her expression—then again, she had been caught up in Yuto's recklessness yesterday, hadn't she?
"I need to talk about something," Serena snapped.
Reiji looked at her. He couldn't think of anything that he'd done to earn her ire—not recently, anyway.
Still…
"Will talking about it here be fine?" He said, keeping his expression completely flat.
Serena nodded. "What are we doing?" She demanded. "Why haven't we gone after Academia at Heartland Tower yet?" Nearby, Mion grimaced, shooting Reiji a concerned look. However, Gongenzaka and Reira were both clearly trying to look less curious than they actually were—as though they'd been considering the same question.
If there was yet another thing that the Lancers were, it was reckless.
Still, Reiji kept his tone level. "We're learning more about this situation first, before we make any unnecessary moves," he said.
"What more do we have to learn? We already know where Academia is, we can just go after them now—we can end all of this now! They're all still suffering right now!"
… this was the same thing as Sora Shiun'in, wasn't it? An attempt to atone for their past beliefs.
"We have to learn from our past mistakes," Reiji said.
"What—"
"Do you remember the situation that we ended up in when we first entered Synchro?" Reiji said. "And what happened after that? There are some things that are unavoidable, such as our group being forced to split up due to the teleportation program. However… I often wonder how many losses we would have suffered, if Roget had been less inclined to see us as pawns instead of enemies."
Serena went quiet.
"If he had simply told his agents to duel and card anyone that they arrested," Reiji continued, "we would have lost most of our forces immediately."
He held back a grimace, pushing up his glasses.
"And subsequently, I hesitated. I was so focused on the goal that I had already set for myself to oppose what was brewing right in front of me, until it was too late. I will not allow that to happen again. I'm already taking efforts to investigate and learn more about the situation here—and as much as I can, I will share whatever information we have on all of this. But I do not wish to rush into arrangements and alliances again—not until we understand the Resistance's intentions, not until we can be sure if we are doing the right thing by going along with their decisions like this. And attacking a place that has been Academia's base for half a year is not advisable—they will outnumber us far too much, and they have the advantage of knowing the area better than we do."
He said all of it without anger, without irrationality. He left the last thought, entirely based on emotion, unspoken.
I do not wish to lose more of those that I am responsible for, especially not to circumstances that are entirely avoidable.
"... if that's the case," Serena said, "then…" She didn't look as angry or tense anymore—but how long had she been thinking those things? How long had she been seething for? "Then, tell us. I…"
Her cheeks went slightly pink. She did not duck her head, but she looked at him with fiery determination.
"I respect you. I know you have reasons. But I don't want to ever have things hidden from me again!"
The words echoed around them.
"... and give me orders," Serena continued—relentless, as usual. "I need to do something. And I need to know that we're all on the same page. I don't want to be stuck thinking that we're doing nothing at all."
"... fine," Reiji said. "I should be able to tell you all more tonight."
Serena nodded stiffly. She exited the room.
Reiji slowly exhaled. He turned to look at the other three that were still in the room.
Gongenzaka cleared his throat, looking away, as though he hadn't just been eavesdropping. Neither Mion or Reira bothered to do that.
"You're getting better at that," Mion said offhandedly.
"At what?"
"... communicating. It's reassuring."
… he hoped so. More than ever, the responsibility was weighing heavily on his shoulders.
Hopefully, Sora would pick up enough information for him to finally decide how to make his move…
Sitting in the makeshift garden that she'd created, Hisako Fuyumori brushed dirt off her fingers as she moved onto the next planter. When she spoke up, her voice was serene. "Is there something that you require? It seems odd that you're hanging around here when it's lunchtime, Kozuki-san."
Allen Kozuki shuffled his feet around at the entrance. He had his roller skates on, so it made a noise that grated on her ears. "I wanted to talk to you," he said—his words came out in a rush. "Because I—uh, I had something that I wanted to tell you."
… as per normal then.
"Do go on," Hisako said placidly.
"I—I just think—" Allen clenched his fists. "I just think that we shouldn't allow these strangers to stay here. There's a good chance that they're working for Academia. And we don't have time to waste on people like them—it's not like they'd understand, and they're already getting in all kinds of trouble just by themselves!" He was doing his best to sound calm, but some of that impulsive anger was bleeding through everything. "One of them is the Professor's son, another is Yusho Sakaki's son. Two came from Academia, one worked for Academia despite not even being from Fusion, they're a group filled with all kinds of weird and suspicious people, and they can't be trusted!"
Hisako calmly stood up, brushing her fingers across the flowers inked on her arm.
"So, I thought—you're the most reasonable one, so you can convince Tsubaki-san and Mariko-san—"
"Kozuki-san," Hisako said lightly. "Pardon me, but do you know how many people come to talk to me everyday because they have something selfish to ask, but they're too scared to ask people who they think will call them out on it?"
"Selfish?" Allen exclaimed. "I just know that they're going to hurt the Resistance! I—"
"You know that you're being unreasonable, and so you came to me, thinking that I'm the easiest to convince," Hisako said. "I see this constantly. People are so… selfish." Her words were awkwardly phrased, not that it came across in her calm tone. "My parents raised me to be a businesswoman, Kozuki-san, not a wallflower." She looked back towards the soil. "If you're going to get angry at people who have not hurt you in any way, all for your own assumptions and pride… I'm afraid that I want none of that. I'll keep an eye out, but I certainly will not convince anyone for you, just because you're too… what's the phrase? Too weak-willed to state what you want in a way that is not petty.
Allen opened his mouth—and then he closed it, his lips thinning as he pressed them together—he looked stubborn, and embarrassed, and eventually, he turned around and sped off.
Another person would have recognised that he was hurt and attempted to soothe his pride.
Hisako… did not care about things like that.
When one always said the wrong thing, somehow, one got used to offending people. To people charging off in tears.
This time, Hisako thought that she'd got it right though.
She dragged her fingers along the side of another planter.
It was more potatoes, of course. That was how all of this worked—just planting more and more, hoping for them to grow and multiply—the faintest hope. She'd already worked with plenty of gardens in her life—just moving from spot to spot, over and over.
Just garden after garden, and she'd plant and plant over and over…
And then someone would rip out all the saplings she'd planted, set the whole place ablaze, and she'd start over with nothing to show for it.
Just like that.
… it would be fine.
Her fingers stopped before she ripped out a sapling—for a moment, she just sat there. A dangerous energy thrummed through the air.
"... Fuyumori-san."
Hisako turned her head. Yuji was standing there—from his expression, he had heard what she'd said earlier. To another person, he might look emotionless.
To her, he just looked confused.
"Sit down," she said calmly, and when she smiled, she did her best to hide those thoughts.
"The answer with you is always automation, isn't it?" Yuno commented, watching as Miharu typed on her laptop—he wasn't even sure how she was charging that thing, and frankly at this point, he was just going to assume that she wasn't just stealing the Resistance's electricity. Pandor was watching Miharu from where Yuno had put his duel disk down next to her, occasionally taking tasks from her and helping out. On the other hand, Roboppi was just cheerfully chatting about a video game that he'd apparently been playing… in Miharu's duel disk?
Huh.
Maybe Yuno should be asking more questions.
… nah.
Still, the fact that the two AIs only tended to show themselves when no one else was around indicated that they were… shy, which was honestly kinda cute. To be honest, just watching them buzz around Miharu was really cute too…
Okay. He needed a moment before he imploded.
… moment taken. Gushing done. (Well. Internally.)
Miharu had clearly answered while he was internally gushing, but Yuno hadn't heard it, so he just smiled at her. She exhaled briefly—a glance of affection, before she repeated what she had said. "They're still taking notes on pencil and paper. It's inefficient—not to mention that they can only really have so many pencils. Spreadsheets are more efficient—and we might as well cut down on their workload while we're here."
Yuno grinned, leaning on her shoulder. "I love you."
Her cheeks went just the slightest tinge of pink. "... mm." Yuno waited patiently, and after a moment, she said: "Me too."
Roboppi laughed from nearby. Pandor shook her head, seeming slightly exasperated.
"Still, there's enough fighters." Miharu glanced around them. "... this is just to get them on their feet more quickly, too."
"You already finished the program for Nue-san, right?" He'd seen her staying up for an hour or so to get it done, and then she'd left the main room for a while, before quietly coming back in again.
"... just to help her tell what the stats of her opponents' cards are, and what the board state looks like," Miharu said. "Hitoda fixed the rest, and I think Nue-san prefers her solution anyway."
"Huh. It's weird that she just had something like that lying around, right?"
"... it's not that unbelievable. Sometimes, I think she knows more than she says." Miharu closed the laptop. "... though I can't put my finger on it. It just feels like… everything she says is a bit too deliberate. It's not wrong, but… it's like she intentionally tries to look like she doesn't pick up on things?"
… Yuno really didn't want to think about the two big secrets that he'd already picked up from the green-haired girl—one admitted willingly, the other accidentally revealed. "I think so too," he said. "... but I think we're all like that, right?"
"... in Den City, there are two types of people," Miharu said. They swapped positions slightly—now, she was the one curling into his shoulder. "The ones that talk too much about themselves and the ones that don't talk at all… but either way, I don't think that any of us really tell the truth. We all want to hide as much as we can about our 'true self' when around people that aren't really a part of our social circle…"
"Is that so, Dazzling Spring?" Yuno teased. "Explains the veil then."
Miharu shot him a brief look. When she spoke, her tone was light as well. "You'd know that well, Boundless Sea."
"Mm."
They might have said something else then, but then a group of people ran by, and they overheard something about a duel in the middle of the ruins.
"Yugo," Miharu said without a doubt.
"… Serena," Yuno said a moment later. "Let's go look?"
"Sorry about yesterday."
"Don't apologise," Hitoda said with a laugh. "I wouldn't mean it if I was you, anyway."
Nue shot her a shrewd look—even without the ability to see, her expression was still the same. "The outburst or the apology?"
"Mm hmm," Hitoda said, which answered no questions whatsoever. "Let's just do a chill one and see if you can handle it for now?" She placed her cards on the ground in front of her. "No need to be stressed, I'll tell you if anything goes wrong, and Mizuchi will spot any mistakes for you too, okay?"
"... let's just try." It was the reason that Hitoda was there, after all—Nue had asked her to be a practice opponent while she figured out how she was going to duel from now on.
… she could oblige.
[DUEL!]
Hitoda Makishima: 4000LP
Nue Kamisoka: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Hitoda] [H:5]
Of course, Hitoda was considering two different options. One was to try to make the game slower and give Nue more chances to adapt, but… if she went easy on Nue right now, then it might cause everyone to think that the dark-haired girl was ready for more than she was actually capable of.
… well. She'd just have to treat it as though she didn't care about Nue's wellbeing right now—because that was how Academia would behave, right?
She'd play a bit rough.
"Continuous Spell, Awakening of the Possessed!" She placed down the card on the ground. "All monsters I control gain 300 attack points for every Attribute I control. And then, I'll activate the Spell Card, Hand Destruction. We both send two cards from our hand to the graveyard and draw two."
"So you lost a card for that?" Nue remarked, even as they cycled out the cards in their hands. Hitoda saw the other girl trace her fingers across the bottom corner of the cards, identifying them.
"Mm. You don't need to worry about that." Hitoda placed down a card. "Normal Summoning Fairy Tail - Rochka." She placed down the card of a girl with platinum-blonde hair in braids and a tail of bushy fur.
[Fairy Tail - Rochka (4*/1850/1000/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"I'll then activate Rochka's effect, and chain the effect of Awakening of the Possessed, since a Spellcaster monster with 1850 attack points was summoned. I draw one card first—and then, with Rochka's effect, I will give you 500 life points, and in exchange, you can choose one of the top three cards of my deck to put in my hand." She picked up the three cards, handing them over—Kaname leaned over, carefully drawing patterns on Nue's other open palm. It took a moment, but eventually, Nue held up the middle card. Kaname made a brief exhaling noise, and that seemed to be enough of a confirmation, and Nue handed it over.
"The other two cards go back in the deck," Hitoda said. She shuffled those two cards in. She glanced at the card that Nue had passed her. "... huh. Alright." She took another card from her hand. "Continuous Spell, Fairy Tail Tales. I'll perform a second Normal Summon this turn of a Spellcaster with 1850 attack points. Come—Familiar-Possessed - Aussa." She placed the card next to her other monster.
[Familiar-Possessed - Aussa (4*/1850/1500/EARTH/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"I'll then send the EARTH monster, Familiar-Possessed - Aussa and the Spellcaster monster, Fairy Tail - Rochka from my field to the graveyard to Special Summon Awakening of the Possessed - Nefariouser Archfiend from my deck." She slid both cards into the space for the graveyard, before placing Nefarious Archfiend Eater's evolution on the field.
[Awakening of the Possessed - Nefariouser Archfiend (5*/2000/200/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]
"Nefariouser Archfiend will Special Summon Aussa from the graveyard with her effects negated. And then, I'll use Aussa and Nefariouser Archfiend as Link Material." She skipped the chant—she had a feeling that while she liked the dramatics, Nue wouldn't appreciate them right now. "Link Summon, Link 2, Aussa the Earth Charmer, Immovable." She placed the monster in the Extra Monster Zone.
[Aussa the Earth Charmer, Immovable (L2/1850/EARTH/Spellcaster/Link/Effect/↙, ↘]
"Nefariouser Archfiend's effect—I will add a "Spiritual Earth Art" or "Possessed" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand. Then, Aussa's effect. I can Special Summon an EARTH monster from your graveyard to her Link Marker. I'll take Arachnocampa." She took the card from Nue's graveyard, placing it behind Aussa.
[Traptrix Arachnocampa (4*/1300/1500/EARTH/Insect/Effect)]
"And then I'll—"
She was about to take out a certain card from the Extra Deck, but then she realised what she was doing and slid it back in. Geez. What am I doing? I haven't even used that card in front of the Lancers yet, there's just no point…
Can't autopilot to that extent.
Kaname was eyeing her.
Hitoda shrugged. "Setting a card and passing," she said. "Over to you."
[Turn 2: Nue] [H:6]
"Draw," Nue said. "That's probably your usual combo, right? Unpossessed and Awakening of the Possessed?"
"You can think what you want to think!"
"... that's also something you would say. But you did give me the chance to set up things for myself too. Normal Summoning Traptrix Dionaea." The card that she placed down was correct, thankfully.
[Traptrix Dionaea (4*/1700/1100/EARTH/Plant/Effect)]
"Dionaea's effect." Nue reached for her graveyard, picking up the one card there. Briefly, her thumb smoothed over the bottom-right corner, clearly checking just in case. "I Special Summon Traptrix Myrmeleo from the graveyard." She placed the card down to the right of Dionaea.
[Traptrix Myrmeleo (4*/1600/1200/EARTH/Insect/Effect)]
"Myrmeleo's effect. I'll destroy your set card."
Hitoda giggled. "Want to change your target?"
Nue paused. Then, she shook her head. "... it was a mistake on my part," she said. Hitoda pretended not to notice that her fingers were shaking. "Arachnocampa keeps its effects when summoned by Aussa?"
"It does," Hitoda agreed. "And while Arachnocampa's on my field, the first time each of my set cards would be destroyed, they're not. So my set card survives."
"... I already declared my target. It's my mistake, I'll live with it." Nue glanced at the backrow card, before she shook her head. "You control one Attribute, right?"
"Yep."
[Aussa the Earth Charmer, Immovable: 1850 + 300 = 2150ATK]
[Traptrix Arachnocampa: 1300 + 300 = 1600ATK]
"I'll use Dionaea as material to Link Summon Traptrix Sera," Nue said. She swapped out the cards.
[Traptrix Sera (L1/800/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/↓)]
"Then, I'll activate the effect of Fairyant the Circular Sorcerer. I'll Special Summon it from my hand since there is an Insect or Plant monster in either graveyard." She placed down the card. "I'll tune the Level 3 Fairyant the Circular Sorcerer to the Level 4 Traptrix Myrmeleo and Synchro Summon my Circle of the Fairies." She placed down her singular Synchro Monster on the field.
[Circle of the Fairies (7*/2200/2500/WIND/Plant/Synchro/Effect)]
"Circle of the Fairies lets me Normal Summon again. I'll Normal Summon Traptrix Mantis."
[Traptrix Mantis (4*/1500/1300/EARTH/Insect/Effect)]
"Mantis's effect. I'll add a "Traptrix" monster from my deck to my hand. And then, since I activated a "Traptrix" monster's effect, Sera lets me set a "Hole" Normal Trap from my deck to my field." She gestured forward. "Battle Phase. Your Unpossessed won't protect Arachnocampa. Circle of the Fairies attacks it."
"True, but I'll flip my Unpossessed anyway." Hitoda handed the monster back to Nue, who put it in her graveyard. "While I control Fairy Tail Tales and a monster with 1850 original attack points, the first battle or effect damage I take each turn is negated!"
"... that's fine." Nue gestured forward. "Then, Circle of the Fairies burns you for half the attack points of that monster, and heals my life points by the same amount."
Hitoda: 3400 - 1300 / 2 = 2750LP
Nue: 4000 + 1300 / 2 = 4650LP
"Since a monster was destroyed, I can use Unpossessed's effect. You destroyed an EARTH monster—so I'll set a WIND Spellcaster monster with 1500 defense points from my deck. I'll choose Wynn the Wind Charmer."
"... and it can't be destroyed by battle."
"Nope."
"I'll set a card and pass," Nue finally said.
[Turn 3: Hitoda] [H:3]
"Draw," Hitoda said. "Flip Summoning Wynn the Wind Charmer."
[Wynn the Wind Charmer (3*/500/1500/WIND/Spellcaster/Flip/Effect)]
"I'll take control of your Circle of the Fairies."
Nue nodded. Hitoda took the Synchro Monster—Nue probably had a way to destroy Wynn, but it didn't matter. After all, while Hitoda controlled her Continuous Spell, her Charmers and Familiar-Possessed monsters couldn't be destroyed by card effects.
"Aussa's effect. I'll take Myrmeleo from your graveyard." Hitoda winked, even though Nue couldn't see it. "Myrmeleo's effect. When Special Summoned, I destroy a Spell or Trap you control. I'll choose the one directly behind Mantis."
"I'll activate the effect of Traptrix Mantis," Nue returned. "I'll return my set card to my hand, and then set a Spell or Trap from my hand. So Myrmeleo misses target."
"Well, that's fine," Hitoda said.
"I'll use Sera's effect to set another "Hole" Normal Trap from my deck."
Less fine. "Normal Summoning Fairy Tail - Luna." She placed down the spellcaster with blue hair on the field.
[Fairy Tail - Luna (4*/1850/1000/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"I'll use Luna's effect to add another Spellcaster monster with 1850 attack points from my deck to my hand. And with Awakening of the Possessed's effect, I can draw another card." She gestured forward. "I control LIGHT, WIND and EARTH. Three Attributes."
[Fairy Tail - Luna: 1850 + 300 x 3 = 2750ATK]
[Traptrix Myrmeleo: 1600 + 300 x 3 = 2500ATK]
[Aussa the Earth Charmer, Immovable: 1850 + 300 x 3 = 2750ATK]
[Circle of the Fairies: 2200 + 300 x 3 = 3100ATK]
[Wynn the Wind Charmer: 500 + 300 x 3 = 1400ATK]
"Battle Phase."
"Trap Card, Treacherous Trap Hole," Nue gestured forward—there was something listless to it. "I'll destroy Luna and Circle of the Fairies." The two monsters shattered. "With the effect of Traptrix Sera, I can Special Summon a "Traptrix" monster from my deck. Come—Traptrix Atrax." She thumbed through the deck, placing the card down.
[Traptrix Atrax (4*/1800/1000/EARTH/Insect/Effect)]
"Atrax's effect lets you activate those Traps from hand… well, no pain, no gain. Unpossessed's effect activates when my monster is destroyed by a card effect too. I'll Special Summon a monster with a different Attribute from one of the destroyed monsters. Come in face-up Attack Position—Familiar-Possessed - Eria."
[Familiar-Possessed - Eria (4*/1850/1000/WATER/Spellcaster/Effect)]
She'd summoned it so that she could retain the attack point boost that she'd gotten—after all, losing the only LIGHT monster she had would have lowered all her monsters' attack points by 300, but by bringing out a new one, she got to keep it.
[Familiar-Possessed - Eria: 1850 + 300 x 3 = 2750ATK]
"I'll continue to my Battle Phase. Aussa attacks your Traptrix Mantis. And when a "Familiar-Possessed" monster attacks, which my Link Monsters count as, Unpossessed gives them 800 more attack points."
[Aussa the Earth Charmer, Immovable: 2750 + 800 = 3550ATK]
"For someone who plays like a trickster, your monsters do have rather high attack points when you get going…"
"Trickster?" Hitoda grinned. "Cute, coming from you."
"... hmm."
"I mean, I'm not a Trickstar or a Traptrix by any means," Hitoda quipped—half the joke was something that the other two wouldn't get, but she reveled in things like that. "So?"
"... scoop," Nue said.
"... huh. You can't counter all of this?"
"The moment that I forgot to get rid of Arachnocampa before aiming for Unpossessed, it was over," Nue said. "I can't destroy any of your remaining monsters except Myrmeleo, my own monster—and I can't stop the damage that's coming my way anyway. Do you disagree?"
"... nah. I don't." She hadn't wanted to say it though, because that would be rude. Not that she minded being rude, but… appearances. "That's it then." She placed the cards back down. "... you know. We've never dueled properly before, have we?"
"There's cards on the ground in front of us right now."
"Mm. Doesn't count." Hitoda lifted her gaze, glancing at Nue, though the other girl likely hadn't noticed it. "The Nue Kamisoka that I like so much would have had the strength to crush me if she was at her best."
Of course… when Hitoda said that, 'me' didn't necessarily refer to herself. It referred to the version of herself that she'd presented in that duel. It was still a coin flip whether she'd win a duel against this girl if they both went all out—if Hitoda stripped down all those layers that she'd wrapped around herself…
… hmm.
Kaname was looking at her. Hitoda didn't like that. (She wasn't sure if she liked Kaname Mizuchi at all, no matter what anyone else said.)
"I'm going," Hitoda said after a moment. "I just need a bit of space, alright?" And with that oddly brusque statement, she picked up her deck and walked out.
And—
Briefly, 'she' allowed herself to wonder. Briefly, in that corridor without anyone else that knew her around, she allowed herself to wonder. (And that lack of anyone else's presence was what she needed to think, because self-reflection required her to be able to see herself in the first place, and—well. That meant taking down the layers, everything, to try to do exactly what she wanted rather than the character she'd built for herself.)
She wondered—was there still a 'true self' underneath all of that? Could there be a 'true self' under all of that, when she'd been holding up the same smile on her face for…
God. It had been already been nine years, hadn't it? Next year would be the tenth.
… the tenth year that she would have lived on without her brother. Without anyone at all that she could call family.
At this point, the mask had been on for so long, was welded on so tightly that…
I don't know if I'd recognise myself.
She traced her fingers across her lips.
If she smiled now, she would be able to make Hitoda Makishima's smile so easily, so naturally, so flawlessly that no one would ever suspect that she'd spent months standing in front of a mirror, smiling at it over and over again, until she couldn't remember what her old smile had looked like. She hadn't looked at any of her old family photos in years either. She didn't want to see anything about herself before—if only because it might end up breaking the mask. If she saw her old smile, she might forget this one instead, and that was just no good.
And, worse than that…
She raised a hand to her hair, messing with it slightly. The fact that she usually tied it up with a bun made it harder to see in some cases, and recently, she'd taken to putting clips and things like that in her hair to stop her increasingly long fringe from falling—she hadn't cut her own hair since a while before they'd left Den City, and it was reaching a ridiculous length now, for all that she still managed to keep it tied up.
She'd seen it the other day, when washing her face—
The faintest tint of blue, in specific parts of her hair.
… her roots were showing. And there hadn't been a good excuse to get hair dye in Synchro, not without asking too many questions. So now there were some faint streaks of blue—not enough to be noticeable, but certainly there. The fainter green wasn't that obvious—she'd chosen to dye her hair a darker shade of green, after all. Still, the shades were different enough that in a month or so, even that softer shade of green would be obvious.
… she'd have to figure out something soon enough. For now, she just had to hope that no one would look closely enough to find those lupine blue strands. It was enough to separate her 'self' to her own eyes—Hitoda Makishima's hair was that darker green, Soothsayer's hair under the veil was a paler shade of aqua, with blue gems scattered within it. Blue under green. She'd thought it was clever. Instead, it was just a bit of a taunt at this point—an image in her head, even as she fought under a different name than she had before.
She really, really wanted to be Soothsayer again.
… enough for now. She'd probably be able to get dye eventually. There were bigger problems right now. Like Nue's. Like most other people here.
And…
Hitoda pressed a finger to her nose, breathed out and smiled.
… she'd handle this later, once they handled everything else.
"You did pretty well, I thought," Shun said. He'd been watching too, but Nue had wanted to do her turn alone, so having the normally silent Kaname be her helper and only point things out when needed was slightly better than having Shun right next to her—he was already having trouble with not helping her when she was visibly struggling, and if he was sitting next to her, it would have been even worse.
He was not foolish enough to think that he could protect her from everything—and neither of them wanted that. She was strong—and she needed to be confident enough in herself again.
He would not be foolish enough to stop her from finding her own strength again.
Nue breathed out, shaking her head. "I messed up my thinking there," she said. "I spent too much time checking what cards I was holding, and not thinking about what plays I could make… I need to get used to it."
"You'll get there," Shun said, stepping over and pressing a hand to her shoulder—slowly, so that he didn't alarm her. Kaname gently tapped Nue's other shoulder.
"I know," Nue said. "I will."
"Thanks, Kurosaki."
Ruri nodded. She was currently taking a shift in handing out lunch to people, along with Yugo and Rin. The other two had leapt into the role remarkably quickly—and they seemed to do it rather well. Rin had mentioned that they did do things like this at the orphanage, so maybe that was why…?
Either way, they were still giving out food when Sayaka showed up. Ruri smiled at her friend—before she furrowed her brow. Sayaka had been acting slightly strange around her since she'd come back, and she wasn't sure why. There was something nervous to how her friend was acting.
"... hey, Ruri."
"Hey, Sayaka. Is… there something wrong?" She wanted to tell her friend to talk to her, but she didn't want to set Sayaka off, or make her feel like she was causing any problems—she just wanted to help her friend.
"... uh." Sayaka put her hands behind her. "I'm okay…"
She looked kind of frail, didn't she? "Do you want lunch?" Ruri asked gently.
"Um. No. I'm not hungry…" Sayaka breathed in. "Ruri… can we duel after this?"
Duel…?
Was she that nervous about asking for a duel?
"How come?" Ruri asked.
"... I lost to… her. That girl with the same face as you." Sayaka squeezed her eyes shut, arms around herself. "I just want to see… if I can beat you now. I'm sorry. It's silly. I—"
"Hey!" Ruri reached out—then, she remembered that she had just been handling food and drew her arm back. "Hey, don't—" Don't catastrophise. "Sure! I don't mind dueling later, after I'm done with this, okay?"
Sayaka slowly opened her eyes, before she nodded. "Okay," she said. "... see you later."
Ruri watched her walk away, slightly confused.
In the end, Ruri and Sayaka found a place to duel in the ruins, but apparently word spread very quickly about her, and all of a sudden, there were people there to spectate the duel—some other members of the Resistance like Chris, and some of the Lancers too, like Miharu and Yuno. Ruri was somewhat uncomfortable with that—Sayaka was clearly going through something that Ruri didn't know about, and… she would have preferred to resolve this in private…
She spotted Allen watching them, a dark scowl on his face. At the same time, Yuto was there too. He shot her an encouraging nod—and maybe that helped her to ignore the whispers all around her.
… she was back.
She didn't want to be intimidating. She didn't want anyone else to be hurt…
Sachi's words weren't that easy to shake off, even if she wanted to.
"Why does someone like you… think that they have the right to protect other people? The right to say that you'll fight, that you'll change the minds of others, that you'll protect people… you're just ridiculous."
It would be easy to discount everything and say that because she was helping now, she shouldn't be blamed for anything—but that much would be wrong. It would be… cruel.
Ruri didn't want to be that kind of cruel person—to act like people had no right to be mad at her. Because it made sense that they would blame her—for escaping, in some way, when they hadn't. She wanted to respect those feelings—and no matter how ugly they were, no matter how unfair others might say that they were, she wanted to prove that those feelings were wrong with her own strength and her own conviction…
Maybe more because she wanted to be kind, because she wanted to help to heal others. Not because of pride or bitterness.
Still, no one wanted to have others look down on them for things that they could never have been in control of.
So. Maybe she'd start here.
… she was pretty sure that Sayaka would never resent her anyway. Not when her friend had always been so sweet and kind. Whatever Sayaka's reasons were for asking for a duel…
They didn't matter. If it would help her friend, Ruri would do her best without holding back—that was all there was to it.
"Are you ready?" Ruri called out.
Sayaka bit her lip. "Mm… yeah. I'm ready."
"Okay." Ruri offered her a smile—after a moment, Sayaka returned it. "Let's have a good duel then, Sayaka!"
[DUEL!]
Ruri Kurosaki: 4000LP
Sayaka Sasayama: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Ruri] [H:5]
She had been randomly assigned the first turn, huh…? Ruri typically preferred the second turn, but she could work with this. She glanced through the cards in her hand quickly, before she put one of them down.
"Quickplay Spell, Swallow's Cowrie," she said. "I'll tribute a Winged Beast monster in my hand to add a Winged Beast monster of the same Level from my deck to my hand. I'll tribute my Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow to add Lyrical Luscinia - Turquoise Warbler from my deck to my hand! And since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Turquoise Warbler from my hand!" The bright yellow-green bird-themed girl appeared on the field.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Turquoise Warbler (1*/100/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"Turquoise Warbler's effect. I'll Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow from my graveyard!" The brown-feathered bird appeared to the left of Turquoise Warbler.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow (1*/0/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"I'll use Cobalt Sparrow's effect to add a Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my deck to my hand. I'll add Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow from my deck to my hand. And with Sapphire Swallow's effect, I'll Special Summon her and another copy of Turquoise Warbler from my hand!" The two monsters appeared on the field, part of the same swarm.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow (1*/100/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"Overlaying the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow, the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow and the two Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Turquoise Warblers!" The four monsters shot up, turning into bright streaks that spun around each other. "Birds with beautiful wings! Gather on the battlefield and take brilliant flight! Xyz Summon! Dance in the sky! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale!" Her ace appeared in front of her, letting out a battle cry.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:4)]
"Assembly Nightingale gains 200 attack points for each Overlay Unit she has," Ruri said, though it was probably unnecessary.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: 0 + 200 x 4 = 800ATK]
"I'll set a card and end my turn."
[Turn 2: Sayaka] [H:6]
"Draw," Sayaka said. She looked at Assembly Nightingale, before slowly gulping. "... okay. Activating the Spell Card, Holy Nights Bellfire. I can add a "Holy Nights" monster from my deck to my hand!"
Yes, these Holy Nights monsters that she'd played against Yuya and Yuzu… it made sense that Sayaka would have done her best to get stronger, to use cards that still fit her theme while being stronger. Still… it put in perspective how long it'd been since she'd seen her friend, when she no longer knew anything about Sayaka's strategy. Or come to think about it, anything about Rio's strategy either, now that Rio had incorporated her brother's cards into her deck.
(Hearing that Ryoga was safe but unable to return to Heartland was… a conflicting feeling. Academia had set it up so that no boats or planes could hope to come to Heartland, which meant that the rest of the Xyz Dimension could not come to Heartland. Still, the idea that there could be Heartland citizens trapped outside of the city, unable to return, worried sick about their loved ones and unable to know if they were alright…)
(It reminded Ruri a bit too much of her previous situation.)
Sayaka broke Ruri out of her self-deprecating thoughts a moment later as she placed down another card. "I'll then activate the Continuous Spell, Holy Nights Nativity. By revealing Holy Nights Orbitael in my hand and placing it on the bottom of the deck, I can add a Level 7 LIGHT Dragon monster from my deck to my hand. I'll add The Dragon Twinkling in the Holy Night from my deck to my hand!"
She still had five cards in hand, huh? But she hadn't actually summoned a monster yet…
Sayaka picked up a card with a determined look. "Normal Summoning Holy Nights Rayel!" The knight with white wings appeared, dressed in white and blue armour.
[Holy Nights Rayel (4*/1800/700/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]
"Rayel's effect. I can add a "Holy Nights" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand. I'll add the Field Spell, Holy Nights Sky and activate it! And while I control Holy Nights Sky, I can Normal Summon an extra "Holy Nights" monster each turn, or a Level 7 LIGHT Dragon monster."
Ruri cracked a smile.
Sayaka blinked. "H-huh? Did I do something?"
"Nothing," Ruri said, shaking her head. "I just…" She beamed at Sayaka. "I'm glad that you still sound confident with the cards you play! You've always played what suits you, Sayaka. I appreciate that."
"... oh." Sayaka didn't say anything for a moment. "... I'm doing my best. I'll Normal Summon Holy Nights Astel." The knight in white and coppery red armour appeared, off-white wings lifting them in the air as they spun around a sceptre glinting with green light.
[Holy Nights Astel (4*/500/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]
"I'll overlay the Level 4 Holy Nights Astel and the Level 4 Holy Knights Rayel! Stars shine in the sky and frost! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Starring Knight!" The tall white-haired knight appeared, her golden armour shimmering brightly and reflecting the lamplight around them. The warrior herself emitted a bright red light.
[Starring Knight (R4/1900/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Starring Knight's effect," Sayaka continued. "I'll detach an Overlay Unit from her to Special Summon a LIGHT monster from my hand. Come—Holy Nights Ciel!" The angelic knight dressed entirely in a blue bodysuit appeared, dark spear piercing through the air as he stabbed it into the ground, contrasting sharply with his bright white wings.
[Holy Nights Ciel (4*/1700/800/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]
"Battle Phase! Ciel attacks Assembly Nightingale!"
"I'll activate Assembly Nightingale's effect!" Ruri countered. "I'll detach one of her Overlay Units, and for the rest of this turn, I take no battle damage—and my "Lyrical Luscinia" monsters cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects! Feather Barrier!"
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: OU:4 - 1 = OU:3; 800 - 200 = 600ATK]
However, Sayaka didn't let herself be cowed—instead, she gestured forward, even as her Continuous Spell glowed. "I'll activate the effect of Holy Nights Nativity! When my opponent activates a card or effect, I can Special Summon a Level 7 LIGHT Dragon monster from my hand!"
She placed down the monster—the bright white dragon appeared on the field, golden stars spinning around it as it let out a roar.
[The Dragon Twinkling in the Holy Night (7*/2500/2300/LIGHT/Dragon/Effect)]
"When my dragon is Normal or Special Summoned from the hand, I can target a card on the field and destroy it. I'll choose your set card!"
"Trap Card, Lyrical Luscinia - Birds of a Feather!" Ruri flipped up her set card—if it was going to go, she might as well use it now. "All my opponents have their monsters' attack points become the same as that of a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster I control, and their Levels and Ranks become 1! And those effects are permanent!"
Sayaka nodded—she didn't seem that bothered by it, all things considered. Her monsters were all weakened by the effect.
[The Dragon Twinkling in the Holy Night: 2500 → 600ATK; 7* → 1*]
[Holy Nights Ciel: 1700 → 600ATK; 4* → 1*]
[Starring Knight: 1900 → 600ATK; R4 → R1]
"Ciel's attack stops," Sayaka said. "The Dragon Twinkling in the Holy Night attacks Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale! And at the start of the Damage Step, your monster is banished!"
Banished… huh?
That…
That circumvented Assembly Nightingale's protection very well, huh? It didn't target or destroy her monster at all.
Ruri bit her lip as her ace monster vanished from the field. She couldn't think of a lot of good ways to get it back, either… but…
"That was a great move, Sayaka," she said, raising her head and smiling. "You're doing well!"
"... thanks… my dragon can attack a second time in a row too, but there's no real use to that if you're not taking damage. I'll set a card facedown." That left Sayaka with no cards left in hand—she'd used up her entire hand just to get rid of Assembly Nightingale. "I'll end my turn now."
[Turn 3: Ruri] [H:2]
"Draw," Ruri said. "I'll activate the effect of Lyrical Luscinia - Beryl Canary in my hand. I'll target Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow in the graveyard—and I can Special Summon both of them!" Cobalt Sparrow reappeared, and next to her was the bright bird in canary yellow, fluffy wings lifting her up in the air.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Beryl Canary (1*/0/200/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"Cobalt Sparrow's effect. I'll add a Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my deck to my hand." She picked up the card, before placing down the one that she'd just drawn at the start of the turn. "Spell Card, Wing Requital. I'll pay 600 life points to draw two cards!"
Ruri: 4000 - 600 = 3400LP
She had a way to get Assembly Nightingale back from her banished cards, but she didn't know if that was the best possible option now, not when Sayaka's monster would be able to remove it with another attack.
"I'll overlay the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Beryl Canary and the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow! Now, beautiful bird with the power of the whirlwind, use your magic gusts to destroy every trap laid on the battlefield! Xyz Summon! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Prom Thrush!" The winged woman with brown wings appeared, a glow surrounding her feathers—something like the glimmer of stars at midnight.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Prom Thrush (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Prom Thrush's effect. By detaching one Overlay Unit from her, I can destroy a Spell or Trap you control! I'll choose your set card!"
[Lyrical Luscinia - Prom Thrush: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
"I'll chain the Continuous Trap, Holy Nights Advent! I'll return a Level 7 Dragon monster from my field to my hand—"
"You can't do that!" Ruri pointed to the dragon. "Because your monster isn't Level 7 right now—because of my Trap, its Level is now 1!"
Sayaka went silent for a moment, before nodding. Since she couldn't use the effect, her monster remained on the field, still weakened by the Trap from earlier—and her backrow card was destroyed.
"Since Beryl Canary was used as material for Prom Thrush, Prom Thrush gains 200 attack points. And with her own effect, she gains 500 more attack points for each of her Overlay Units."
[Lyrical Luscinia - Prom Thrush: 0 + 500 + 200 = 700ATK]
"I'll activate the effect of another copy of Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow in my hand. I'll Special Summon her from my hand, along with Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail!" The two birds appeared, lightly touching their wings against each other with friendly nods towards each other.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail (1*/200/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"Celeste Wagtail's effect. I'll add a "Lyrical Luscinia" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand!" Ruri gestured forward. "I'll overlay the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow and the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail! Bird of stars that sings in the glowing sunset. Appear before us! Xyz Summon! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling!" Another of her Xyz Monsters landed on the field, smiling as her wings scattered more stars in the sky.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Sapphire Swallow attaches Turquoise Warbler from the graveyard to Recite Starling as an Overlay Unit!"
[Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling: OU:2 + 1 = OU:3]
"Then, Recite Starling's effect. I'll increase Prom Thrush's attack and defense points by 300 for each of Recite Starling's Overlay Units. She has three, so Prom Thrush gains 900 attack and defense points! Gift of the Stars!" Recite Starling turned to Prom Thrush, scattering light across both of them.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Prom Thrush: 700 + 300 x 3 = 1600ATK; 0 + 300 x 3 = 900DEF]
"And with Recite Starling's effect, I'll detach an Overlay Unit from her to add a Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my deck to my hand! Nest Calling!" She picked up another card, adding it to her hand—she now had three cards in hand again.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling: OU:3 - 1 = OU:2]
"I'll then activate the Spell Card, Lyrical Luscinia - Bird Switch! I'll return Recite Starling to the Extra Deck!" The bird monster vanished from the field. "Then, I can add a Winged Beast monster from my graveyard to my hand. I'll add Turquoise Warbler back to my hand. And then, I'll activate the Spell Card, Lyrical Luscinia - Bird Call! I'll add a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from my deck to my hand, and then Special Summon another one from my hand, as long as that monster has a different name from the one that I added to my hand. Come back! Turquoise Warbler!"
The monster that she'd just added back to her hand landed on the field again.
"Turquoise Warbler's effect lets me Special Summon another "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from my hand or graveyard. Come from the graveyard! Sapphire Swallow!" She now had three monsters on the field again—Sayaka watched her, seeming surprised.
"Are you Xyz Summoning again?"
"I am," Ruri said. "I'll overlay the Level 1 Sapphire Swallow and Turquoise Warbler. Come back, Recite Starling!" Her monster flew back on the field. "Sapphire Swallow attaches Beryl Canary from the graveyard to Recite Starling as an Overlay Unit—and Recite Starling will target Prom Thrush with its effect again! So that's another 900 attack and defense points—Gift of the Stars!" Her monsters glowed again, one lending strength to the other.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling: OU:2 + 1 = OU:3]
[Lyrical Luscinia - Prom Thrush: 1600 + 300 x 3 = 2500ATK; 900 + 300 x 3 = 1800DEF]
"I'll detach an Overlay Unit from Recite Starling to search out another Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my deck! Nest Calling!" She searched out another card again, slipping it into her hand.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling: OU:3 - 1 = OU:2]
"Celeste Wagtail's effect. She'll attach herself from the graveyard to Prom Thrush as material!"
[Lyrical Luscinia - Prom Thrush: OU:1 + 1 = OU:2; 2500 + 500 = 3000ATK]
"Battle Phase! Prom Thrush attacks your dragon!" The fact that Sayaka had wanted to return her dragon to the hand meant that she probably had no way to protect it, right?
As it turned out, Ruri was correct—Prom Thrush struck down the dragon with a single strike, destroying it.
Sayaka: 4000 - 2400 = 1600LP
"Since I control only Winged Beast monsters, I can also Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Ruby Raven from my hand!" This was one of the new cards that Reiji Akaba had given her in the Synchro Dimension, but this was the first time that she was getting to use it. In front of her, a girl with bright red wings appeared, a cold look on her face—her red feathers swept through the air sharply. Despite her young appearance, there was something dangerous to her expression.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Ruby Raven (1*/0/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"Ruby Raven's effect. I'll discard a Winged Beast monster to draw a card. I'll set a card and end my turn there," Ruri said, holding onto the last card in her hand.
Sayaka bit her lip again. "... draw."
"She's skittish as fuck," Chiaki said bluntly. "What's she so scared of?"
Kyorin gulped. She recognised the same signs of her own personality in the girl—that same nervousness, that worry about doing things wrong. She… wasn't sure what was going on though. After all, even if Kyorin was nervous to say things around Chiaki sometimes—because she wanted Chiaki to like her, and even though the logical part of her brain knew that Chiaki obviously did, sometimes she just couldn't help it.
But this girl seemed genuinely afraid—nothing was tempering it, even though she and Ruri had been friends for so long. Why was that…?
Kyorin thought about Asuka sometimes going a bit quieter when they said things, about glances between her and Johan that Kyorin had initially been scared of (worried that she'd displeased them, that she'd messed up and that she couldn't stop messing up.) Nowadays, looking back, she could tell that it was something more like guilt—something awkward, that feeling of belonging when they hadn't wanted to belong, hadn't wanted to be attached.
This was a little like that.
… was that girl… alright?
[Turn 4: Sayaka] [H:1]
"Draw," Sayaka said. She glanced at the card, before she gestured forward. "I'll activate the effect of Holy Nights Nativity. I'll return another copy of Holy Nights Astel from my hand to the deck and add another copy of The Dragon Twinkling in the Holy Night from my deck to my hand!"
So she did have another copy of it… that did make sense.
"I'll then detach Starring Knight's other Overlay Unit! Come from my hand!" Her dragon appeared on the field again.
[Starring Knight: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]
"Then, my dragon's effect! Since it was Normal or Special Summoned from the hand, I can target a card on the field and destroy it!"
"Prom Thrush was Xyz Summoned using Cobalt Sparrow as material," Ruri countered. "You can't target her!"
"Then I'll destroy…" Sayaka glanced across the monsters on Ruri's field. "... your set card!"
"I'll activate the Trap Card, Icarus Attack!" Ruri gestured forward. "I'll tribute Ruby Raven to destroy two cards you control! I'll choose your dragon—and Holy Nights Sky!"
The two cards shattered—leaving only Starring Knight, Holy Nights Ciel and the Continuous Spell on Sayaka's field.
Ruri looked at her determinedly.
"... Ciel and Starring Knight don't have enough attack points," Sayaka murmured. "I'll activate the effect of Holy Nights Rayel in the graveyard. I'll banish them and Special Summon Holy Nights Astel from the graveyard!" The copy of the angel from earlier reappeared. "And I'll overlay the Level 4 Holy Nights Astel and Holy Nights Ciel—"
"You can't," Ruri said, feeling somewhat surprised—her Trap wasn't a new card at all, so why was Sayaka struggling so hard to remember it? "Ciel's Level has been permanently changed to 1. So your monsters don't have the same Level."
Sayaka looked at her field. "... oh," she murmured. "Changing Starring Knight and Ciel to Defense Position… pass."
She didn't want to attack Recite Starling because of the reflected damage, right? No matter how much damage she took, Prom Thrush would be able to finish her off by attacking whichever monster was in Attack Position there.
Still…
You still lose this time, Sayaka.
[Turn 5: Ruri] [H:2]
"Draw," Ruri said. "Recite Starling attacks—" She gestured forward. "Holy Nights Astel!"
Sayaka's eyes widened. "... oh. With Recite Starling's effect—"
"We both take the damage," Ruri completed. "I have enough life points to survive, but you don't!"
The simplest answer, the most direct option, a bird in flight, one target in mind—
Recite Starling landed her attack, the shockwave hitting both Ruri and Sayaka at once.
Ruri: 3400 - 2000 = 1400LP
Sayaka: 1600 - 2000 = 0LP
Winner: Ruri Kurosaki!
Ruri breathed out, somewhat surprised at her own victory.
"You played well, Sayaka!" She said with a smile. "Banishing Assembly Nightingale was really smart, and choosing not to attack… the only real misplays happened because you forgot about my Trap's effect…"
She paused. Sayaka was staring at the ground.
"... Sayaka?"
"... mm. Yeah." Sayaka wrapped her arms around herself. "... thanks for the duel, Ruri. I'm going to go now."
"... did I do something wrong?" Ruri said gently. She reached out an arm. "Hey, Sayaka—"
Sayaka shrank away—one of her arms swept outwards, as though to push Ruri away. Ruri stopped there, looking at her.
"... it's fine," Sayaka said. "I just need to… think. Sorry." She took a step back. "Sorry. Sorry." She turned her head, and then, she practically fled.
Ruri stood there, slightly confused—slightly hurt.
Maybe it was foolish to think that she could ever be with the people from her past the way that she wanted to.
"Ruri."
"Yuto…" Ruri turned her head—she considered burying her face in his shoulder. Still, she didn't want that—she didn't want people to see that she was upset when they'd come here to see a duel, not to see her weak. So, she offered him a smile—still weak, but not as much. "I'm okay. She's the one that's… hurt."
And I still don't know why.
… I wish I did know why.
I'm tired of knowing that people are hurt, without doing anything about it.
How many other Lancers are hurt right now, without me being able to help them—to even see them at all?
OC Cards:
Lyrical Luscinia - Bird Switch
(Spell)
You can target 1 Xyz Monster you control; return it to the Extra Deck, and if you do, you can add 1 Winged Beast monster from your GY to your hand. You can only activate 1 "Lyrical Luscinia - Bird Switch" per turn.
Lyrical Luscinia - Ruby Raven
(1*/0/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)
If you control only Winged Beast monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn: You can send 1 Winged Beast monster from your hand to the GY; draw 1 card. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 1 "Lyrical Luscinia" monster that is banished or in your GY in Defense Position. You can only activate each effect of "Lyrical Luscinia - Ruby Raven" once per turn.
End Notes:
The idea that Mr. Phoenix designed the Destiny HEROes after Aster's favourite fictional heroes growing up but gave them legally distinct names is one of my favourite headcanons, haha.
That being said, I don't think Mr. Phoenix is a bad parent, but that whole flashback is definitely a reflection on how girls are expected to be 'mature' faster, in a certain double standard. Eri and Edo are fundamentally the same age, but… hmm. Yeah. There is definitely a favourite child, even if he's doing his best.
Hitoda's actual hair colour being dark blue with green highlights actually isn't that hard to guess when you realise that the rest of the Fragments follow a pattern that she specifically doesn't—Nue (black), Shino (pinkish purple), Kaname (white), Kyorin (light blue) and Mion (auburn, orangey brown). While mostly not the exact same shade, all of them have hair that is the same general colour as the summoning method of the dimension that they come from, except Hitoda… well, because her hair colour isn't natural.
The duels are intentionally a bit choppy here, just because the duel itself doesn't matter as much as the mental state of those involved :)
So yeah! This chapter was originally going to be way longer, but I decided to split it up for the sake of my own sanity—the pacing of the chapter was horrible initially, haha. So that's what happened. You might be able to guess what the next chapter's going to be about already though, just from all of this. Unfortunately, I can't get into it immediately…
Because next chapter is the 100th chapter of the fic! I cannot believe that we've already gotten here, honestly—I thought that it would take a lot more time. I could never have imagined when I started this fic that I would stick it out for this long either. So yes, for the 100th chapter, I wanted to do… something with a popularity poll :) I guess we could call it the second popularity poll! So yes, I've made a Google Form for this, so feel free to fill it in—everything is explained at the start of the form itself. Ffnet does break links though, so… remove the underscores in the following link! https:_/forms._gle/gCjirPPwTWJRF7iW7 I'll probably close the form in around a week, on like 5th June, so yeah :)
Review responses!
To phantomdragons, yeah, I was totally expecting some stuff like that, yeah. Just remember to adjust the rating filter and you'll find it! Or you can bookmark the first chapter so that it's easier to find it. That's a very sweet review though, so thank you for the kind words.
To Egduardiazsluber, I've never watched Bleach and don't know anything about it, nor do I plan to, considering that I don't have a lot of interest in those kinds of battle-based anime. Me writing Kurosaki and Yuzu's names is because that is their canonical name, and I don't know how that could be a reference to anything else. I don't exactly have control over canonical characters' names.
To T.V. 2000, glad you enjoyed the chapter, and that plan will be revealed eventually!
To Infernal Enby, yes, you totally get it! While there's a lot of discussion of trauma and hurt, it's never with the goal of just basking in it. It's because I want to write about recovery, which is something that is deeply personal for me. :)
To Bryzon, those different characters are all meant to parallel each other, after all. There are a lot of complexities to dealing with things like this, and well... I'd be lying if I said that writing about people slowly picking themselves up from a mess like this didn't make me happy. :)
To TornadoXz825, this really is going to be the new version of Shino jokes huh...
To TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r, things like that will eventually be revealed in the plot! But I don't ever write characters who are 'evil' for no reason.
Alright, see you next time!